Minimally invasive procedures have grown in popularity, and more physicians are utilizing endoscopic procedures to perform biopsies, surgeries, and other procedures, to make diagnoses, or to visualize an area of concern located within a patient's body. By allowing the physician to gain access to internal target areas using natural orifices and/or small incision sites, endoscopic procedures may reduce trauma to the patient, and the patient may experience quicker recovery times, less residual scarring, or fewer side effects.
The increasing use of endoscopes has had consequences for physicians, however. Endoscopes are often bulky or heavy and can be unwieldy to hold and manipulate. The elongate insertion tube designed to be inserted into the patient and the umbilical cord of the endoscope that connects the endoscope to a light source and/or fluid source can be heavy and awkward to balance, support, and control. To manipulate an endoscope, knobs and buttons may need to be repeatedly engaged by a physician's hand, while the other hand may need to move the scope's insertion tube in and out of the body or rotate the tube in various directions to maneuver the distal end to a site within the body and/or to perform a procedure. In addition to the endoscope itself, physicians often need to manipulate tools extending through the endoscope during a procedure. As a result physicians may need to support and manipulate a scope in awkward and uncomfortable positions for long periods of time. And in some instances, endoscopic surgeries may take more time to perform than traditional, open-body surgeries.
Over time physicians that regularly use endoscopes may experience more aches and pains in their hands, wrists, arms, back, or upper body due to the unnatural and repetitive nature of holding and manipulating an endoscope. Physicians may experience carpel tunnel, lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow), arthritis, or other painful or potentially debilitating problems as a result of endoscope use. Additionally, smaller physicians or physicians with smaller hands may have difficulty holding and manipulating endoscopes.
While attempts have been made to increase the ergonomics of endoscopes, many of these new ergonomic devices have not caught on. Physicians learn to perform procedures on traditional endoscopes, and many do not use devices that would change the way that they interact with the scope, because they would need to re-learn how to perform the procedures using the new device. Using new devices may require changes to the techniques that physicians have always used and may require them to alter years of learned muscle memory. They are often concerned about how long it will take to “reprogram” their movements and way of thinking to adjust to something new. Even simply changing the way a physician holds an endoscope may affect the tactile feedback that a physician is accustomed to or may make the physician less comfortable when controlling the endoscope. As a result, physicians often opt for traditional, less-ergonomic devices, because that is what they are used to.
Thus, there exists a need for an improved device that would make an endoscope more ergonomic for a physician to use. A device is needed that would reduce injuries to physicians caused by repetitive motions and overuse when manipulating the buttons, knobs, and other actuators of an endoscope. A device is also needed to improve access to endoscope actuators and provide easier tool and accessory manipulation, including for those physicians having smaller hands. There is further need for a device that is capable of supporting the weight of an endoscope without significantly impeding the physician's manipulation, rotation, and movement of the endoscope in multiple degrees of freedom. Additionally, the device should be able to be used with a range of different endoscope types, shapes, and/or sizes, should not significantly affect the physician's interaction with the scope, and should be easily cleaned and/or sterilized between uses and quick and easy to set up. Embodiments of the present disclosure seek to address one or more of these problems.